American Solutions is re-launching Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less for one big reason: President Obama’s continuing war on American energy is dramatically increasing the price of gas and diesel.
To be fair, President Obama is in favor of drilling…but just not in the United States.
His numerous bans, restrictions, and proposed taxes are hamstringing America’s ability to produce more oil and gas and are thereby increasing gas and diesel prices. In fact, even the federal government projects that domestic oil production will drop by 220,000 barrels per day in 2011 due to the President’s anti-drilling agenda. Production in 2012 will drop even more.
If we produce less oil, we will produce less gasoline, which means higher prices at the pump.
To avoid the justified political blame that comes with rising gas prices while having no coherent policy to develop more American energy and lower prices, President Obama and his allies in the Congress are now scrambling to show that they’re trying to lower gasoline prices.
But instead of arguing for more American energy to lower prices, they’re arguing for more taxes on oil and gas companies, which will only raise gas prices even more as new energy taxes will simply be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher gas prices.
So here’s President Obama’s bottom line argument for how to lower gas prices: higher gas prices will lead to lower gas prices.
Somewhere George Orwell is smiling.
But there is in fact a cruel logic to President Obama’s argument. The more Americans have to spend on gasoline, the poorer they will be and the less they will be able to afford driving. Higher gas prices also means a less robust recovery from the Great Recession.
So poorer Americans and economic stagnation will lead to lower overall demand for gas and diesel and put downward pressure on gas prices.
That’s President Obama’s strategy for lower gas prices: higher taxes, declining incomes, job loss, food stamps, and economic stagnation.
But Americans don’t want this future. We want lower taxes, more take home pay, more jobs, higher economic growth and lower gas prices.
Yes, we want all of these outcomes, which is why Americans overwhelmingly support more domestic drilling for oil and gas to lower our energy prices and create more jobs.
It’s time to drill here and drill now.